The Role of Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals, and Food Supplements in Intestinal Health

Abstract

New eating habits, actual trends in production and consumption have a health, environmental and social impact. The European Union is fighting diseases characteristic of a modern age, such as obesity, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, allergies and dental problems. Developed countries are also faced with problems relating to aging populations, high energy foods, and unbalanced diets. The potential of nutraceuticals/functional foods/food supplements in mitigating health problems, especially in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, is discussed. Certain members of gut microflora (e.g., probiotic/protective strains) play a role in the host health due to its involvement in nutritional, immunologic and physiological functions. The potential mechanisms by which nutraceuticals/functional foods/food supplements may alter a host’s health are also highlighted in this paper. The establishment of novel functional cell models of the GI and analytical tools that allow tests in controlled experiments are highly desired for gut research.

Synbiotic as Feed Additives Relating to Animal Health and Performance

“…Furthermore, synbiotic is a mixture of probiotic and prebiotic which beneficially affect the host by improving the survival and the implantation of live microorganisms dietary supplements in the gastrointestinal tract, and thus improving host health [76]. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommend that the word "synbiotic" be used only if the net health benefit is synergistic [77]. The first attempts should be to combine Probiotic and Prebiotic which have demonstrated individual benefits to determine if there are additive effects, alternatively, a more structured approach would be to determine the specific properties that a prebiotic requires to be beneficial to the probiotic and select the prebiotic accordingly [78].…”

Characteristics and consumer acceptance of healthier meat and meat product formulations—a review

“…This may be due to the fact that lactic acid cultures can decrease the activity of faecal enzymes like β-glucuronidase, azoreductase, nitroreductase that are thought to play a role in the development of colon cancer (Prates and Mateus 2002). Fermented meat is also known to possess various other biofunctionalities such as alleviating symptoms of aging, fatigue, autism, allergies, and osteoporosis, antimicrobial, anticancerous, antiobesity, and antidiabetic effects, increasing availability of B group vitamins, and synthesis of amino acids (Cencic and Chingwaru 2010).…”

Production of probiotic fresh white cheese using co-culture with Streptococcus thermophilus

“…In addition to basic nutritional functions e. g. gut health, they show physiological benefits and can reduce the risk of chronic disease. Functional food can provide the needs of the body with the required amount of vitamins, fats, proteins, carbonhydrates, etc., needed for its healthy survival (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2007;Cencic & Chingwaru, 2010).…”